A POPPY seller of 50 years will be out doing what she does best in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday in Weymouth.

June Hutchens, 76, of Goldcroft Road, said she remembers when people donated in pennies, tuppences and sixpences when she began selling in the 1950s.

At the age of 26 she decided to become a poppy seller after being touched by the memorial services she attended as a young girl at church.

Having lost her uncle during the war while he served as an officer in France, she said the memorial services after his death stayed with her and she distinctly remembers the bells ringing.

Mrs Hutchens, who was born in Dor-chester and moved to Weymouth when she got married in 1952, said it made such an impact on her that she decided to do something to help the cause.

She said: “There weren’t so many charities back then to support the soldiers like there is today, but I knew I wanted to help in some way.

“As I got older – because I have lost my own daughter – you realise that they are never going to come back.

“In a way it’s even more urgent now with all the young lads and girls coming home, and I feel so sad for the parents of the soldiers who have lost their lives because they have the rest of their time ahead to live without their children.

“While I have health and strength I will put in as many hours as I can and go on as long as I can.”

She added that even though young people don’t often like to wear a poppy they still donate their money.

Mrs Hutchens’s usual spot to sell is outside Marks & Spencer in Weymouth where she will be today, tomorrow and over the weekend.

On Remembrance Sunday, veterans, soldiers and supporters will gather at the cenotaph to pay their respects to soldiers past and present.